Seattle Condo Review: Blog with News & Advice about Seattle Condos

Olive 8 Hard Hat Tour

I went on an Olive 8 hard hat tour yesterday.  As the construction elevator started rising, the views just get better.

We started the tour on the 26th floor.  It was still in a raw stage with only some structural columns and walls but at least you can try to visualize the unit space with the help of a floor plan.  The northwest units view are good but they are partially block by several high rise buildings including the Westin Hotel towers.  My favorites are the north facing units which look over South Lake Union. You definitely get more water views that way. The 08 floor plan is facing the Qwest building looks right into their offices -- not ideal unless you're a Qwest exec I guess.  On the bright side, the 08's are priced very attractively which may explain why they're almost sold out of that plan. 

According to the project engineer, they are paying great attention to the noise transmission level in the condos.  An audio-acoustic company will be sent in to conduct testing in the units after the insulation is installed.  The condo will be tested three times side by side, top and bottom before drywalls are put up.

Some readers commented about the exterior a while ago.  They are using ceramic fritted glass (ceramic based paint permanently bonded into glass) which also helps hide the columns from the exterior.  Here are some more pics.

The Marlborough Update

After rolling out Queen's Court, the Pittsburgh, Nord and Betsy Ross, Live Historic launched their 5th conversion projects, the Marlborough yesterday.  This time the project is on First Hill.

Earlier yesterday before the launch party, workers were busy cleaning up the place and finishing last minute touch ups to the lobby while stagers were prepping the model units.  The vintage charms were evident from the Marlborough seals on the lobby windows, old school mail boxes, crown molding, original french doors, coffered ceilings, and arched windows.

According to Ben Rankin, Principal of Pioneer Property Group, a handful of the units are sold and they are retaining the rest of the inventory for the launch party. The building has been extensively remodeled including new wiring, plumbing, electrical, refinishing of hardwood floors, and replicating of some of the vintage details.  The main envelope work includes the new roof, windows, and cleaning and repairing of the terra cotta carvings.

Seattle Condo Market update

Spring is here so let's see how the numbers are looking.  For the month of March, inventory remains high in Seattle at 52.43% compared to same time last year.  Year-over-year pending sales dropped 27.76%. In fact, from January to March 08, we have seen a consistent drop in closed sales over the same time last year.  However, in March, median price for Seattle condos increased by 4.11%. 

Days on market remains longer than same time last year for all the neighborhoods.  Months of inventory in Belltown/downtown has recovered from early this year.  In January, Feburary and March, the months inventory has been shrinking from 14, to 8.3 to 7.6.  It looks like we are moving from a buyers' market gradually to a balanced market in Belltown/downtown.  Kudos to those buyers who picked up great deals in January.

Summary: More property is on the market and staying on the market longer than last year; however, sellers are not slashing prices nearly as much as some had expected.  Most homebuyers are taking a little bit longer to decide on their purchase knowing that there is not as much urgency.  Sellers on the other hand are still holding on to the prices they believe their condos ought to command and in some cases are making a symbolic reductions in the price but rarely more than 10%.  For the sellers who can wait, they are opting to rent out their condo to capitalize on the strong rental market.

Flashback: I was curious how many readers were right about their prediction on the market for March 08 compared to Fall 2007?  22% of SCR voters were right that the market will perform the same in March (~5% change in median price) compared to September 07 but sell at a slower rate.  About half of the poll takers incorrectly predicted in October that the pricing in the spring would drop by up to 30%.

-Wendy

AVA Update

AVA, a downtown hotel/condo project, has received their Master Use Development Permit and is anticipating construction to commerce this fall. The sales center, located at the corner of Olive Way and 8th Ave, will be open to homebuyers by appointment only beginning next month. A large scale model of the tower, interior model vignettes of the kitchen and bathroom, final floor plans, views, finishes and other exhibits will be available for homebuyers to preview as well. To make a reservation, a $10,000 refundable deposit will be required. The reservations provide homebuyers the first right of opportunity to purchase the home within a provided price range. If you are interested in my opinion on this project, check out my previous review here.

Previous Posts

8th and Pine
AVA Condos

-Wendy

Zoning News

If you missed yesterday's Kiro 7 News regarding downtown zoning and how it is affecting the views of some condo owners, particularly for Cosmopolitan, watch their video here and read more on related issues.

Other Condos that are expected to be affected under the new zoning regulations:

Condominium                  Affected by

Cristalla                        2015 2nd Ave- Mixed-use Building

Escala                         1913 5th Ave- Hotel/Condo

Fifteen-Twenty One      120 Pike St- Mixed-use building

   

Sometimes even after due diligence on the homebuyer's part, the city can still change the zoning. I think the question that homebuyers ultimately have to ask themselves is assuming that the view may be affected by possible future plans, how much of a premium are they willing to pay for that particular view unit.

-Wendy

Tower Spacing News

A lot has been discussed regarding the unpleasant tower spacing between Cosmopolitan and 1918 8th Ave. Kiro 7 News will be featuring an investigative report about problems with Seattle's urban density. This program may enlighten those who are thinking abour purchasing a highrise condo in the dense downtown area. The program is scheduled to air on Monday, March 3, at 6.00pm.

Read more on Cosmo Seattle and Seattle PI.

-Wendy

1 Hotel Residences Redesign

Several projects in the Belltown and downtown area are either on hold or converted to apartments. 1 Hotel Residences on the other hand is undergoing a redesign. The proposed redesign will eliminate 132 of the project's 176 individually owned condo-hotel suites. They will be replaced with 192 smaller, conventional hotel rooms (level 9th-14th). The heavily marketed City suites units will be located on the 15th and 16th level. The residential condominium units on the higher floors will not be affected. Read more.

-Wendy

Olive 8 update- Price Guarantee

Olive 8, one of the Seattle hotel/condos combos has recently announced that they will be offering new buyers a price guarantee.  The developer feels so confident that their project is offering high quality and outstanding value in the market place, that they are prepared to back it up with a price guarantee to new buyers.  The agreement says that if the same floor plan within Olive 8's remaining inventory sells for less than the current price prior to closing, the buyers who contracted for a higher price home will benefit at closing with the equivalent discount to their price.  According to the developer, the low price guarantee assurance is offerred to help shore the confidence of those who are on-the-fence.

Seems like a great marketing strategy -- will be interesting to see whether other projects follow suit.

Construction for Olive 8 has been progressing nicely. The hotel floors have been poured and condominiums floors are being poured at the rate of one every seven days. 

Previous post

-Wendy

1913 Fifth Ave: Billion Dollar "Out There" Hotel Condo

It seems like yesterday that the hotel-condo concepts imported from more trend-setting condo cities were still testing the waters here in Seattle.  Based on the new 1.2M square foot project set to break ground next year, it would appear hotel condos are here to stay.

Some highlights from this new project:

• *Located across from Westin (current residents include the Icon Grill and Avis)
• *High-end hotel (185-200 rooms), retail, office, and 22 floors of condos (400-500 condos)

*Twin, 43 story towers (North Tower-Pagoda, South Tower-Heron)

*Wind and solar will provide 7% of the building's electricity

*7 underground floors of parking

*Design that says Seattle looks not toward Vancouver but toward Chicago and New York.  (Personally, I find it a lot to take in and a bit Robocop as far as first impressions goes but that may be due to the lack of color in the rendering.)

The project is still in the early design guidance phase. Additional information will be presented, and public comments taken, at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Room L280 at City Hall.

More info from the PI article here.

-Wendy

Western and Blanchard- Help Design It?

 

I've been learning about a new Belltown project summarized below. I also interviewed the developer as well as agreed to post an SCR survey to give my readers the opportunity to help design the project and to help make sure they build something that people want. Feel free to fill out the 10 question survey, it'll take you a couple of minutes and I'll post results in a couple of weeks so we can all see what people thought.

Western and Blanchard, a mixed-use project will be located on the parking lot west of Continental Place Condos. (across the street from Belltown Billards). This project would be a 6 story wood framed building with approximately 116 units, 80 of them will be around 600 square feet. The top 2 levels will feature views of the water while other units may have either Space Needle or City views. Most of the units will be priced under $400,000. Interiors will feature 10' clear ceilings. Amenities would include (2) media rooms, fitness center, business center, roof top deck and perhaps part-time concierge.

Sample floor plan for their small "price point" units

Projects done by the same developer, Murray Franklyn :Bellora, Pomeroy, Austin Bell, Cristalla and Madison Tower.  Click below to read my interview with the developer and for a link to the survey.
 

SLU Street Car

The Streetcar has been up and running since last month and I have to say it looks really nice. Residents working in downtown and living in South Lake Union can enjoy the convenience of hopping on the nice shiny new streetcar for $1.50 or use a metro transfer or pass (thanks to reader MM for pointing this out). If you are tech savvy, you can even configure your phone to get actual arrival information. The ride stretches from Westlake Ave and Olive Way to Fairview Ave N (between Ward St and Yale Ave). Anyone buying in the neighborhood may want to give some preference to buildings along that green line below.

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-Wendy         

Where in Seattle will the investor money go in 2008?

Most Read SCR Posts of 2007

In case you missed any, here were the most popular posts of 2007.  Happy reading!

-Wendy

1. Escala Update

Summary of the project and Q&A with the Escala sales manager.

2. AVA

Summary an interview with Ava marketing manager.

3. Carbon 56

Summary and scorecard of the Carbon 56 project.

4. Seattle Condos 2.0

What's next?

5. 2200 Westlake Flippers....Still Waiting to Flip

Plight of flippers and discussion on why they were hurting.

6. Four Seasons Update

Summary of project and Q&A with sales manager.

7. Vine, Ellington and Klee

Summary of top Belltown resale buildings.

8. Lumen

Summary of tour of completed project and scorecard.

9. October Market Update

The game of chicken begins between buyers and sellers.

10. The Pittsburgh

Review of historic seattle condo.

5th and Madison Update

One of the new construction projects completing this year is the occasionally overlooked 5th and Madison project in downtown Seattle. If you are a big fan of city views and love Manhattan style high-rise living in a more business-like area of downtown, this may be a project worth checking out.

         Rendering                                Actual

                          Rendering                                 Actual

Here are some of my observations:

1.) Unlike most projects focusing a lot of their efforts on indoor amenities and charging a lot more on their homeowner dues, one of 5th and Madison's most unique selling points is the outdoor plaza. The water features and greenery on the south side of the building create an interesting in-city green space for residents.

2.) The exterior architectural design is sleek and simple with generous floor-to-ceilings windows for all their floor plans, especially their 04 floor plans which feature expansive views of the city. However, the trade off would be you might get some traffic noise coming from I5.

3.) The most popular floor plan is the one bedroom plus den 01 layout (on higher floors) which gets partial water views and mostly city views. Great amount of sunlight for these units but the only minor drawback is the odd shaped balcony that doesn't seem to be too functional.

Overall, the building feels very well constructed and probably deserves more buyer consideration than it has received thus far.

Previous Post

-Wendy

Where is my view?

One of the risks of buying a view condo, especially in the downtown area, is you never know what projects could come up around your building. Even after you or your Realtor does due diligence to research the neighboring lots, there is always a chance that a taller building might be constructed right next to you and block your views, sunlight, and mojo. If you are buying in the densest downtown zone, there is no required separation between your tower and your new neighbors. This can be an unpleasant surprise for many homeowners; just ask some of the residents of the Cosmopolitan. Read more.

  -Wendy

Survey Summary: Seattle's Best Looking New Project

The results are in from the latest SCR poll: best looking new project in Seattle. The top choices were AVA and 1521. 

-Wendy

Seattle's Best Looking New project

Fifteen Twenty One               Escala                             AVA

        1 Hotel                        Olive 8                      Four Seasons

 

Hotel Condo Shoot Out

With many buyers deferring their purchases till next year, you'd think the condo-hotel projects would be slowing down a bit as well. As it turns out, buyers looking for this class of property seem to be fairly unaffected by the national market concerns. So far, the Seattle condo hotel market has proven quite resilient. Recently, I put together a table comparing each of the top Seattle condo-hotel projects for one of my clients and put an abridged version here as well as put a quick summary below for SCR readers. Hope it helps!

Olive 8

Olive 8, the fourth hotel/condo project in Seattle has a scheduled completion in late 2008/early 2009. Its reasonable pricing and modern design atop the Hyatt hotel has been receiving a great response from the public. Even though some of the west facing units’ views are blocked by Qwest Building, home buyers do not seem to mind. The developer added 3 more levels on top of the originally planned 36 story building. Since a lot of units are sold, there is not a whole lot of selection available except for the top 3 levels. Olive 8 probably has the best value compared to the rest of the condo/hotel projects.

Previous post

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AVA

Across from Olive 8, standing at about the same height is AVA. Most developers assign the higher floors for penthouse residential units to maximize as much revenue as possible. In AVA's case, they have chosen to allocate a portion of the space on the 38th level as their owners’ lounge and media room with an outdoor deck! Both AVA and Olive 8 enjoy close proximity to I5 and the transit Terminal making it easily accessible for out of town 2nd home owners. This makes for a great location to hop on to the soon to be opened light rail to get to the airport.

Previous post

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Seattle Real Estate news

If you're like many homebuyers sitting on the fence and wondering what is going to happen to the downtown condo market, here's an interesting article from the Seattle Post Intellingencer.

 

Some interesting data:

• 83 percent of the more than 1,200 new downtown condo units that came on line in 2007 have been sold.
• All of the more than 1,400 downtown units built from 2000 through 2006 have sold, according to market research firm Realogics.
• Half of the approximately 1,600 condos Gardner expected to hit the market in 2010 still are looking for financing.
• The state Office of Financial Management estimates the population of downtown Seattle -- the commercial core, South Lake Union, Belltown, the Denny Triangle and Pioneer Square -- grew by 31 percent from 2000 through April 1, 2006.

-Wendy

Stewart & Minor

Many hotel/condo projects are focused on differentiating by their location or design (e.g., AVA & Olive 8) or brand name (Four Seasons) or one of a kind offering and world class amenities (1 Hotel & Residences City suite rental options).  Stewart and Minor, a new proposed hotel/condo project, focuses on their floor plan.

If approved, the hotel/ condominium project will break ground summer 2008 with estimated completion in 2010. 150 hotel rooms (operated by a private hotel management firm yet to be selected) will take up the first 14th stories of the building with 168 loft units starting from the 15th floor to 28th floor. The condominiums range between 500-1,900 square feet. Prices will start from Low $400,000 to over $1M.

So what is so different about this project over their competition? According to the developer:

5th Ave & Stewart, Heron Tower I

There seems to be no shortage of hotel/condo projects coming on the market. 2200 Westlake/Pan Pacific hotel and Madison tower have already been completed and a few others are in the works (Olive 8, 1 Hotel Residences, Four Seasons, and AVA) including the most recently talked about Stewart and Minor.

For those who didn't think that was enough of a selection, here is another proposed 45 story hotel/condo project on the corner of 5th Ave and Stewart St, Heron Tower I.  If approved, buyers who bought into the southeast corner units of Escala will probably have their views affected.

- About Wendy

[UPDATE 2/13/08: The Heron project has been re-designed to become twin towers.  For more info, see the latest post here.)

AVA Sneak Preview Event

Recently, there has been alot of buzz about hotel/condo projects, the most recent project is AVA. AVA had their sneak preview sessions last week. The events were so well received that they are scheduling the 2nd series of sneak preview events for Oct 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

During the events, an hour of presentation was given by Blaine Weber, Principal architect for Weber + Thompson. Among a number of other things, Blaine talked about the location of AVA relative to the neighborhood buildings.

• To the north side of AVA is a high end apartment building, Olivian Tower currently under construction.
• Across the street from AVA is Olive 8, another luxury hotel/condo project scheduled for completion in late 2008 -- about the same height as AVA.
• To the east of AVA is a historic building, the Camlin Hotel.

With the transit terminal right below the huge lot to the east, they are unlikely to obstruct the views of AVA's east-facing units.

1 Hotel & Residences

With all the doomsday media coverage of the sub-prime credit market, many Seattle home buyers have been anxiously hoping for prices to drop considerably. So far, while $5-10k reductions are becoming more common, it doesn't look like the market is giving up too much of it's gains accumulated over the recent years.

How are the hotel/condo projects affected by this? Apparently, not too much. 1 Hotel, which will be launching their private purchase appointments next month, claims to have been receiving great interest in their units. So far, 70% of their 176 city suites and 50% of their residence units are reserved (reservations require a refundable $10k deposit).

 

City Suites: 9th-16th floors

While the sales center itself is still in the works, prospective buyers are eager to find out more about the City Suites, the first of its kind in our market offering homeowners fully furnished units and the ability to participate in a rental program. The City Suites model displays clean lines, neutral colors, and 5 star hotel like finishes. Unlike many other projects which have upgrades available for homebuyers, the City Suites and Residence units will each have their own fixed offerings with no upgrades.

What you can find in the these homes:

• Flat panel TVs
• Dual flush water closets
• 5 fixture bathroom with soaking tubs

   

Seattle Condo Tour

This month, Fisher Broadcasting has organized a Condo tour for homebuyers to check out a list of participating new construction and conversion projects in several neighborhoods. If you have just started the search process, this may be a good chance to make use of their map to get around to check out the condos. (You may also find my SCR Map useful.)  Fisher Broadcasting is providing a complimentary shuttle service to cart you around from sales center to sales center.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you plan on using a Realtor to represent you if/when you buy, be mindful when you register at the sales centers. Just fill in your Realtor's name when they ask if you are working with a Realtor, otherwise you risk needing to pay more out of pocket or getting limited service should you retain the services of a Realtor later.   

When: September 22nd & September 23rd (Saturday & Sunday)

Where :Shuttle service starts at Fisher Plaza (11.00am)

List of condos : visit www.SeattleCondoTour.com

Related posts:

Do you really need a buyer's agent?
Pre-construction purchase
Picking and working with a Realtor

-About Wendy

1,400 Microsoft employees in Seattle

Happy news for condo owners: Microsoft announced today that they will be expanding its office space in Seattle, eventually adding almost 1,400 employees in the area. The expansion will include a lease of a 126,000 square foot office in the Westlake/Terry Building in the South Lake Union neighborhood and two other new locations in Pioneer Square and 505 Union Station. 

Related news:

Microsoft setting up new office sites in Seattle
Microsoft moving into Paul Allen project in Seattle
Microsoft plans expansion into Seattle

-About Wendy

1 Hotel & Residences

The Seattle Times had an interesting article on hotel / condos in downtown Seattle with a focus on Hotel 1, which will begin sales in the next few weeks.

"Married with two young children, McEvoy, 42, expects to spend about $600,000 when "1" begins sales of condo-hotel rooms in the next few weeks. He also hopes the revenue-sharing agreement with the hotel will cover his monthly mortgage payments.

McEvoy figures it roughly like this: He'll make a down payment of $240,000, and get a 30-year loan with a 6.88 percent interest rate for the rest, with a monthly mortgage payment of $2,366, not including property tax, insurance and homeowner fees. He estimates that to cover the mortgage payment, hotel management would need to fill his room 22 days or more a month at a daily rate above $300, and return at least 40 percent of the revenues to him."

If you are considering Hotel "1", you might want to know these numbers:

• The average hotel-room rate in downtown Seattle was $173.83 in the first half of 2007, up from $162.76 during the same period last year, according to the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau.

• Downtown's hotel-occupancy rate also rose, to 73.5 percent from 72.4 percent.

• "1" will be in the "very-high-end range," or somewhere between $290 and $400 a night based on prices that some of downtown's most expensive hotels charged last month.

-About Wendy

18,000 Square Foot Downtown Supermarket Announced

With all the new residents embracing urban living in downtown Seattle, most will be very pleased to hear about a new supermarket slotted for 3rd and Union.  Not only will the store be within walking distance for many condo residents (especially the lucky dogs at 1521 and Four Seasons), it will also offer delivery service for the entire Seattle core condo zone.

Read the full article in the PI here.  Some interesting tidbits:

• Lease is signed
• It'll be a Kress IGA Supermarket
• 18,000 Square feet
• No parking (walk in and delivery)
• 40% of the space will be for pre-prepared foods, hot food tables, salad bars, etc.

-About Wendy

Condo Investments - Not for the Faint of Heart

A lot of my clients are experienced investors. However, I also work with first-time investors as well. For those folks who aren't planning on using their new property as a primary residence and haven't bought and sold investment properties before, there are some things I generally go over before we even consider touring the first unit: 

• Buying a property for zero down and renting it out expecting you'll make a monthly income after dues, taxes, and expenses is highly unlikely to happen. Perhaps you can find a really under priced dated unit and are able to do the renovations yourself but in general, investors experience short term losses and reap their profits in the medium to long term at selling time. 
• Especially if it's primarily an investment property, buying a pricey unit today that is in a hot building may not leave a lot of head room for appreciation a few years out. Consider units that are attractively priced and/or in areas that are still developing (and priced accordingly).
• Run the numbers. Make sure you whip out your Excel and see what your monthly costs, taxes, and expected resale value will be to see if the figures pencil out. If the numbers don't work out on paper, they probably won't in real life either.

Hope this helps!

-About Wendy

Smith Tower

The City of Seattle has approved the conversion of the Smith Tower from an office building to a condo. However, the developer still has to get another approval from the Pioneer Square Preservation Board. Read more.

Previous post on Smith Tower

(Update 03/30/08-There are plans to convert only the top 12 floors (from 22-33) to condominiums with one unit per floor, roughly 2,000 sq ft each. Floors 2 through 21 would remain office space. Read more here.)

-About Wendy

Technorati Tags: Smith Tower, Downtown conversion, Seattle condos, Seattle conversion, Downtown Seattle condos, Seattle Downtown condos, Seatle Real Estate, Pioneer Square condos

AVA condos

Seattle's soon to be tallest residential tower (445 feet), AVA will break ground this fall. Local renowned architect Weber + Thompson and award winning interior designer Garret Cord Werner will be involved in this hotel/condo project on 8^th and Pine St.

According to Blaine Weber, principal of Weber + Thompson, "AVA will be a graceful, tall and slender addition to the skyline." Ceiling heights for these homes will range from 9.5 to more than 12 feet, full height windows, air conditioning, and European inspired interiors will focus on entertainment spaces, spacious bathrooms and walk in closets and owner flexibility. Most homes will include either a balcony or a solarium (which can open to outdoors a large terrace or be enclosed to create a sunroom). Sound familiar? That's right, 1521, another W+T recent project has the window solarium feature as well.

The preview event will occur in July, home buyers will have the opportunity to view their offerings and to make a reservation prior to public release. Finishes and interior specification information will also be available during the event.

Other Weber + Thompson projects:

1521
Expo 62
Cristalla
Icon Tower
7th and Westlake

Previous post on AVA

Interested in working with a condo expert?  Contact Wendy

Technorati Tags: Eighth and Pine, 8th and Pine, downtown Seattle condos, Seattle condos, Seattle downtown condos, Olive 8, Urban condominiums, Ava condos, Live at Ava, Seattle real estate, Expo 62, 1521, Cristalla, 7th and Westlake, Icon Tower, Weber + Thompson, Weber Thompson, Garret Cord Werner

Seattle Condos 2.0

Though many new condos like Escala, Vulcan's projects, Cosmopolitan and Hotel 1 have been receiving a lot of attention in recent months, many home buyers are wondering "what's next?"

For those who have time or don't like what's on the immediate horizon, the good news is there is another wave of projects currently in the incubation stage as we speak. Some of these may not make it but many of them will.  Here are some highlights of the new projects in the pipeline.

A few interesting projects :

Skygarden              2301 6th Ave                 2nd and Pike
(First Hill)               (Belltown)                     (Downtown)

Seattle Condo Expo Update

Sponsored by the Seattle Times and The Seattle Post Intelligencer, the “Mega Open House”, Seattle Condo Expo and Realtor Symposium took place yesterday with approximately 2,500 visitors. The expo included exhibitors from many of the high profile new construction projects in the core of Seattle as well as Bellevue.

The main highlight was the presentation given by Senior Principal and land use economist, Matthew Gardner, and Blaine Weber, principal from Weber + Thompson Architects.  Matthew touched on the inventory coming on the market as well as the outlook for the next few years. Here is some interesting data he presented (Here is my own analysis from May 12th):

• The average project size for new construction is around 150 units for 2007-2009 inventory and 300 units for 2010 inventory.

• Condos completing in 2007 are mostly sold out. 50% of 2008 inventory is reserved and 9% of 2009 inventory is reserved.

• In Seattle, the biggest portion of inventory, approximately 3500 units is proposed for 2010. However, these inventories may not all come through.